CHARACTERIZING STATE STRATEGIES TO ASSURE PRIMARY-CARE FOR MOTHERS AND CHILDREN

To assure primary care for all mothers and children, state health offi cials concerned with maternal and child health must be able to identif y and characterize strategies to meet that goal. Since each state's Ma ternal and Child Health (MCH) Services Block Grant application reflect s plans for reaching primary care goals and objectives, we reviewed th e 1992 MCH Services Block Grant applications from the eight states in the Southeast (Department of Health and Human Services Region 4) to id entify state strategies to improve primary care. We identified two maj or sets of strategies. The first set was directed toward increasing th e number of providers and facilities and accounted for 14% of state st rategies. The second set was directed toward improving the quality of care and constituted 86% of state strategies. Of these strategies to i mprove the quality of care, efforts to enhance the content of care, ex pand outreach, improve coordination, and improve intake and referral a ccounted for 46%, 32%, 15%, and 7%, respectively. The review of strate gies delineated in state MCH Services Block Grant applications may pro vide an efficient mechanism to monitor the development of primary care at the state level.